Popular baby names in District of Columbia, 1920

The most popular baby names in District of Columbia in 1920 were Mary for girls (255 babies) and William for boys (286). William ranked #2 nationally for boys. Social Security records list 6,281 babies born in District of Columbia in 1920 with a name given to at least five children of the same sex in the state.

Names that stood out in District of Columbia in 1920

Names given at least 15 times in District of Columbia that year and at least twice as common as in the US as a whole.

Girls

Constance: 16 babies, 4.2× the national rate
Catherine: 76 babies, 3.1× the national rate
Charlotte: 29 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Doris: 80 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Elaine: 16 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Marguerite: 19 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Anne: 25 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Elizabeth: 92 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Barbara: 30 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Jane: 29 babies, 2.1× the national rate

Boys

Frederick: 30 babies, 3.3× the national rate
Bernard: 34 babies, 2.9× the national rate
Benjamin: 18 babies, 2.8× the national rate
Francis: 42 babies, 2.4× the national rate
Melvin: 24 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Milton: 17 babies, 2.3× the national rate
Leon: 16 babies, 2.2× the national rate
Richard: 87 babies, 2.1× the national rate
Thomas: 87 babies, 2.1× the national rate
William: 286 babies, 2× the national rate

Top 50 girls' and boys' names in District of Columbia, 1920

Girls
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1919	US rank
1	Mary	255	–	1
2	Dorothy	179	–	2
3	Margaret	154	–	4
4	Helen	128	–	3
5	Ruth	93	↑2	5
6	Elizabeth	92	↓1	8
7	Mildred	81	↑3	6
8	Doris	80	↑3	14
9	Catherine	76	↑3	21
10	Evelyn	66	↓2	12
11	Frances	66	↓5	9
12	Virginia	61	↓3	7
13	Marie	60	↑4	13
14	Alice	48	↓1	15
15	Louise	47	↑12	19
16	Lillian	43	↑5	18
17	Marjorie	41	↑26	24
18	Thelma	41	–	31
19	Betty	39	↑4	11
20	Eleanor	39	↓4	25
21	Lois	33	new	38
22	Edith	32	↓8	32
23	Gladys	32	↑2	22
24	Jean	32	↓2	33
25	Barbara	30	↓1	47
26	Anna	29	↓7	10
27	Charlotte	29	↑5	79
28	Jane	29	↑10	48
29	June	29	new	53
30	Florence	28	↓4	16
31	Grace	28	↑14	37
32	Marion	27	↓17	43
33	Edna	26	new	27
34	Anne	25	–	65
35	Lucille	25	↑7	29
36	Bernice	24	↓16	40
37	Katherine	24	↑2	45
38	Shirley	23	new	56
39	Ethel	22	↓9	30
40	Pauline	22	new	36
41	Rita	22	new	52
42	Vivian	21	↓13	64
43	Beatrice	20	↓12	41
44	Elsie	20	↓4	51
45	Gertrude	20	↓12	42
46	Martha	20	↓9	23
47	Agnes	19	new	54
48	Josephine	19	↓12	28
49	Marguerite	19	new	93
50	Rose	19	↓3	20

Boys
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1919	US rank
1	William	286	–	2
2	John	248	–	1
3	James	223	–	4
4	Robert	189	–	3
5	George	132	↑1	6
6	Charles	130	↓1	5
7	Joseph	124	–	7
8	Richard	87	↑2	10
9	Thomas	87	–	11
10	Edward	64	↓2	8
11	Raymond	50	–	15
12	Frank	45	↑3	9
13	Harry	45	–	21
14	Francis	42	↓2	34
15	Paul	42	↑1	14
16	Albert	36	↑2	19
17	Henry	35	↑10	17
18	Bernard	34	↑2	46
19	Donald	34	↑3	16
20	Walter	33	↓6	13
21	Jack	31	–	20
22	Ernest	30	↑18	37
23	Frederick	30	↑9	60
24	Louis	28	↓7	28
25	Ralph	27	↓2	22
26	Warren	27	new	39
27	Arthur	26	↓8	18
28	David	25	–	25
29	Melvin	24	–	54
30	Clarence	23	↓6	26
31	Norman	23	↑11	47
32	Harold	21	↑9	12
33	Samuel	21	↓7	44
34	Daniel	19	↑5	52
35	Benjamin	18	↑1	83
36	Howard	18	↑1	24
37	Leonard	17	↑10	38
38	Milton	17	↓8	74
39	Eugene	16	new	30
40	Leon	16	new	75
41	Leroy	16	↑2	56
42	Lloyd	16	new	58
43	Theodore	16	new	63
44	Alfred	15	↓13	42
45	Earl	15	↓20	31
46	Philip	15	↓1	71
47	Carl	14	↓14	27
48	Edwin	14	↓14	53
49	Fred	14	new	33
50	Lawrence	13	new	36

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